Good day! Here in the U.S., we are counting down the days to the Thanksgiving holiday. As Laura Cooper reported this weekend for The Wall Street Journal, some turkeys celebrated early this year.

In the private-equity world, this morning Will Louch and Ms. Cooper have news about Pamplona Capital, which has seen the ranks of its original tech investment team dwindle, after a U.S. national security panel prompted the firm to divest its stake in cybersecurity company Cofense Inc.

Also, Blackstone Group Inc.’s life sciences unit has partnered with Ferring Pharmaceuticals to back a startup focused on developing gene therapy treatments for bladder cancer; and investors in SoftBank Group's Vision Fund have privately criticized various aspects of the fund's strategy.

Now on to today's news...

Private-equity firm Pamplona Capital Management has been hit by a wave of departures from a $1 billion technology fund it manages after a dispute with a U.S. national security panel. The firm now has just one employee running the fund it raised in 2016 to invest in technology, media and telecommunications companies in the U.S. and Europe, Will Louch and Laura Cooper report for WSJ Pro, citing people familiar with the matter.

Blackstone Life Sciences and Swiss drugmaker Ferring Pharmaceuticals said they would pump more than $570 million into a new Ferring subsidiary company seeking to treat cancer through gene therapy, Brian Gormley writes for WSJ Pro. Blackstone Life Sciences plans to invest $400 million and Ferring up to $170 million in FerGene, a new company developing a treatment for bladder cancer.

SoftBank Group Corp.’s biggest investors are putting pressure on the tech conglomerate over its governance and for a string of bad investments in its $100 billion investment fund, The Wall Street Journal reports. Investors including Capital Group, hedge fund Tiger Global Management LLC and Southeastern Asset Management Inc. have privately criticized the company over losses in the Vision Fund in recent weeks, people familiar with the matter said.

Carlyle Group and T&D Holdings, a Japanese insurance company, have agreed to pay about $1.8 billion to acquire insurer American International Group Inc.’s Fortitude Group Holdings, a unit created in 2018 to house discontinued lines of business such as annuities and structured settlements. The deal will deliver a 76.6% stake in Fortitude to the buyers, while Carlyle already owns a 19.9% interest. After the closing, expected next year, Carlyle will have about 71.5% and T&D will own 25%. AIG will retain a 3.5% interest and is expected to receive a $500 million distribution from Fortitude in conjunction with the transaction, The Wall Street Journal’s Leslie Scism reports.

Partners Group has entered exclusive talks to sell its 50% interest in French fiber-optic infrastructure company Covage at a valuation of €1 billion ($1.1 billion). The potential buyer group includes Altice, Allianz Capital Partners, AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets and Omers Infrastructure, Partners said. Covage’s operations in France include a national fiber backbone and 45 local networks. Covage is the last remaining part of Axia NetMedia Corp., which Partners took private in 2016 in a deal with an equity value of 272 million Canadian dollars ($204 million).

A group led by energy industry veterans plans to raise as much as $258.7 million for a blank-check company to acquire a business with an enterprise value of $500 million to $1 billion, aimed at developing shale oil and gas fields in the U.S. or abroad, according to a recent regulatory filing. Executives who formed the company, Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp., have experience in offshore as well as land-based exploration, drilling and production and believe the current low prices for oil and gas have depressed asset values temporarily, providing an opportunity for profitable investment.

KKR & Co. is adding to its warehouse space, acquiring four industrial distribution properties totaling about 641,400 square feet. The newly acquired warehouses are in the Atlanta area, California’s Inland Empire and the Orlando, Florida area and were purchased through its Real Estate Partners Americas Fund II. In recent months, Blackstone Group Inc. also has made major warehouse acquisitions, citing the expansion of shipping generated by online commerce.

Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, has agreed to invest $896 million to acquire a 45% stake in a string of U.S. warehouse properties valued at $1.99 billion through a joint venture with investment firm Prologis Inc. Prologis is acquiring the real estate assets from Industrial Property Trust Inc. through an earlier $3.99 billion deal. The Norwegian fund will get an interest in 127 properties in markets such as Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas and Seattle under the agreement with Prologis, according to a news release. Prologis will hold a 55% stake in the venture and will manage the properties.

Silver Lake Technology Management has agreed to buy First Advantage from Symphony Technology Group, based in Palo Alto, Calif. The Atlanta-based company provides drug screening and background verification services to employers from 27 offices and employs more than 4,300 people.

Private investment firm Kartesia Management has invested €75 million ($82.6 million) in telecommunications service provider Sewan Communications SAS to support growth of the business. Based in Paris, Sewan offers cloud-based voice, mobile and internet access to small and midsize businesses in Spain and France and is forecasting 2019 revenue of about €116 million from more than 55,000 customers.

KKR & Co. has agreed to buy Novaria Group, the aerospace investment platform of Rosewood Private Investments and Tailwind Advisors. Novaria, based in North Richland Hills, outside Fort Worth, Texas, supplies components and specialty processes for the aerospace and defense industry. KKR, which is making the investment through its Americas XII fund, said it would implement its employee engagement model with Novaria. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

Sun Capital Partners has acquired National Tree Co., an e-commerce wholesaler of seasonal and holiday decor, with a particular focus on Christmas. Family-operated National Tree, founded in 1990, is one of the largest U.S. wholesalers of artificial trees.

Renovus Capital Partners has invested in ClinicalMind LLC, a New York-based medical communications company. Philadelphia-based Renovus targets companies with between $2 million and $10 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, according to the firm’s website.

ClearLight Partners has invested in Handel's Homemade Ice Cream. The Youngstown, Ohio-based company franchises premium ice cream shops.

Our new add-on deal interactive tool allows you to sort and analyze volumes of add-on deal data compiled by WSJ Pro. View more.

ClearLight Partners has sold financial sales training provider Richardson Co. to European private investor Kartesia Management, which plans to combine Philadelphia-based Richardson with its portfolio company Sales Performance International. ClearLight initially invested in Richardson through a recapitalization in 2006.

Riverstone Holdings has sold a half-interest in the Utopia pipeline to a Korean investment group formed by Shinhan Investment Corp., Samtan Co., EIP Investment Co. and KDB Kiamco. The 268-mile ethane line originates in Ohio and ends in Ontario’s Sarnia petrochemical market, transporting products of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, and was built by a joint venture Riverstone formed with Kinder Morgan Inc. in 2016. Kinder Morgan retains its interest and operational oversight of the line.

OpenGate Capital has sold Power Partners LLC to strategic buyer Pioneer Transformers LP, a portfolio company of Mill Point Capital. Athens, Ga.-based Power Partners, founded in 1958, manufactures custom, semi-custom and standard transformer products for utilities, industrial and commercial original-equipment manufacturers.

Industrial technology investor Anzu Partners has sold portfolio company MultiMechanics Inc. to Siemens AG in Munich. The Omaha, Neb.-based company makes material modeling and simulation software and will be added to Siemens’ Digital Industries Software group, Tampa, Fla.-based Anzu said in a news release.

NextGen Growth Partners in Chicago has hired Ron Wexler as its director of business and talent development. He joins from Citadel Enterprise Americas LLC, where he worked for 12 years in various roles.

Origami Capital Partners has promoted Julie Klaff to partner from principal. A lawyer by training, Ms. Klaff joined the firm in 2014 from Sidley Austin LLP, where she focused on investment funds and their products, including derivatives investments.

Wind Point Partners has separated its Pestell Group portfolio company into two enterprises, Pestell Nutrition and Targeted PetCare, to facilitate growth in the businesses, which have already made several acquisitions. Wind Point acquired New Hamburg, Ont.-based Pestell in 2018. Pestell Nutrition distributes additives and ingredients for the animal nutrition and pet food industries, while Targeted PetCare produces animal litter, bedding products and dental pet treats.

Private equity-backed gym owner 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc.’s bonds sank deeper into distressed levels following a recent investor meeting that failed to buoy investors’ confidence in the chain, WSJ Pro's Alexander Gladstone reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The San Ramon, Calif.-based company, one of the nation’s largest fitness clubs, is owned by AEA Investors, Fitness Capital Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, as well as other investors. The owners paid $1.85 billion for the chain when they bought it five years ago from private-equity sponsor Forstmann Little & Co.

Once Silicon Valley’s highest-flying darlings, companies from WeWork to Uber Technologies Inc. have collectively lost about $100 billion in value this year, prompting some startup executives to talk up profitability over growth as venture-capital investors grow more cautious about spending, The Wall Street Journal reports.

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